Doctor Shopping

[alyburton]

Utah

I have not been arrested for this but it is driving me crazy having it hanging over my head. I am currently receiving treatment/counseling for prescription drug abuse. Before receiving treatment I visited several doctors to get the meds I needed. I have not been arrested, but I am wondering if turning myself in is better than waiting for it to happen. Would my punishment still be severe? I want to make things right and I don't want to have to worry about this any longer. This would be my second conviction on prescription charges. The first charges were for ordering meds from the internet. On the first conviction I was able to go through a drug court program and stay clean. Unfortunately after having my appendix removed last year I became hooked again. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[JETX]

US Law Only - WHEN POSTING A QUESTION, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR STATE

 

[quincy]

Utah can "enhance" sentencing and punishment based on prior convictions. Only convictions are counted (or should be counted) when determining the sentencing. For instance, if you were charged with falsely obtaining a prescription the first time, that is a Class B misdemeanor in Utah. However, with a 2nd offense, your charge goes to a Class A misdemeanor. With a 3rd conviction, you are looking at a 3rd degree felony.

I am not sure if your online ordering of prescription drugs, your first conviction, would be close enough in time and in circumstances to qualify the second prescription drug offense as a "single criminal episode" with a single criminal objective, or not. It might. I would definitely check this out with an attorney in Utah before "turning yourself in". While that sounds like the right thing to do, legally it may not be in your best interests.

Again, check with a Utah attorney, and wait for others here to post with additional or different advice.

 

[wallock]

Just because I'm curious.....

How did you get busted for ordering prescription drugs online? I assume it was international... and if customs finds illegal prescription drugs coming from out of the country they just send the recipient a nasty letter, they almost never prosecute.

From what I've read very very few people are ever charged with buying prescriptions (scheduled or otherwise) online.

No, I'm not some professional drug importer, I'm just curious

 

[Zigner]

and if customs finds illegal prescription drugs coming from out of the country they just send the recipient a nasty letter

I think this thread proves you are wrong.

 

[wallock]

I think this thread proves you are wrong.

Actually - I am 100% certain that I am absolutely 100% right. Note the part you did not quote: "they almost never prosecute". They send you a letter "warning you". Many people have received dozens and dozens of these after having various controlled substances (Vicodin, Xanax, etc...) seized. They never do anything. Once in a while, the post office may suspect illegal drugs are in a package and contact the local police, but even that is rare.

Here is the letter customs sends:

www.drugbuyers.com/loveletter/

Why do I know this you ask? I buy Imitrex monthly online. In the US it is $20-$30 PER PILL. Overseas it is much much cheaper. And no, Imitrex isn't controlled (it doesn't make you "high")

 

[Zigner]

"they almost never prosecute"

Prove it.

 

[quincy]

The FDA and the DEA have been working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agencies to aggressively pursue the sellers of illegal prescription drugs, and the doctors who write the prescriptions based on online questionnaires. The online questionnaires are not valid, and distribution of the prescriptions based on them are illegal.

Most of the drugs are seized by Customs as they enter the country, but it is often hard to track down the seller because of phony addresses overseas. Therefore, the FDA and the DEA are increasingly targeting the purchasers of the drugs. Currently, the purchasers are not being prosecuted nearly as much as the sellers (and generally the prosecution is of the Internet pharmacies and doctors based in the U.S.), but in order to stop the illegal sales from overseas, authorities are finding they have to go after those purchasing the drugs. The nasty letters you mention, then, are increasingly being replaced with nasty prosecution.

 

[wallock]

Prove it.

See the above "love letter". Also go to websites like drugbuyers.com and search for "LL" or "love letter". People get dozens.... they mean nothing. Customs intercept thousands of packages of prescriptions drugs every day, they have absolutely no time to investigate.

Now if you order large quantities of a prescription drug or a hard schedule II drug (which, contrary to the media's belief, are near impossible to get) you may be in trouble... a schedule II drug is one that can be used medically, but has the highest potential for abuse (Cocaine, Meth, Oxycontin). Lesser schedule II's (codeine, hydrocodone, etc... are again, almost never prosecuted if it is a reasonable personal use).

 

[wallock]

The FDA and the DEA have been working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agencies to aggressively pursue the sellers of illegal prescription drugs, and the doctors who write the prescriptions based on online questionnaires. The online questionnaires are not valid, and distribution of the prescriptions based on them are illegal.

Most of the drugs are seized by Customs as they enter the country, but it is often hard to track down the seller because of phony addresses overseas. Therefore, the FDA and the DEA are increasingly targeting the purchasers of the drugs. Currently, the purchasers are not being prosecuted nearly as much as the sellers (and generally the prosecution is of the Internet pharmacies and doctors based in the U.S.), but in order to stop the illegal sales from overseas, authorities are finding they have to go after those purchasing the drugs. The nasty letters you mention, then, are increasingly being replaced with nasty prosecution.

I certainly agree with EVERYTHING you say. However, it is still rare to get prosecuted for buying personal use prescription drugs.

 

[Zigner]

See the above "love letter". Also go to websites like drugbuyers.com and search for "LL" or "love letter".

I asked you to prove it - not to point me to pro-drug importation sites...

 

[quincy]

Rare now, maybe, but getting less rare all the time. Like I said, the government is becoming more aggressive with the purchasers because of the growing size of the illegal prescription drug problem and the difficulty in stopping the sellers from distributing the drugs. Michigan and Florida both have had recent drug-purchaser arrests. It looks like Utah has, too.

 

[wallock]

I asked you to prove it - not to point me to pro-drug importation sites...

I pointed you to the EXACT letter the DEA sends to people who get caught importing Scheduled Narcotics (as a prescription). Read it.

The "pro-drug importation" site is relevant because those people deal with the customs issues all the time.

Fact is that you've provided nothing that shows people are commonly prosecuted.

 

[Zigner]

I pointed you to the EXACT letter the DEA sends to people who get caught importing Scheduled Narcotics (as a prescription). Read it.

The "pro-drug importation" site is relevant because those people deal with the customs issues all the time.

Fact is that you've provided nothing that shows people are commonly prosecuted.

I don't care what letter is sent.
The site doesn't apply because it's there to justify the importation of the drugs. Of course they're not going to talk about how many people get caught.
You made the statement that people are "almost never", now it's "rarely" and "not commonly". The implication you made is that it doesn't happen enough to worry about...and you're wrong.

 

[quincy]

wallock, I think one of the reasons you believe prosecutions are rare is that the federal government is not pursuing the purchasers of these illegal online prescriptions as much as they are the sellers. They are concentrating on the sellers, the distributors, and the doctors providing the online drugs illegally, and they are shutting down the websites used often as quickly as they pop up. However, while the federal government is less concerned with the purchasers, the states are going after the purchasers using state laws on drugs. Utah, for instance, has state drug laws and specific state statutes dealing with the online sale and purchase of prescription drugs. This is where the prosecutions come in.

So, you may get a warning letter or two from the federal government, and think all is well. The letters are common and the federal prosecutions of purchasers rare. But you could very well receive a letter from the DEA and later find the local police at your door. You can be prosecuted on the state level, under state drug laws, for receiving and using these illegally obtained prescription drugs. These prosecutions are becoming more and more common.